


Softness

by TheOneAndOnly1993



Series: Love in Kamihama [13]
Category: Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story
Genre: Banter, Belly Kink, Belly Rubs, Body Image, Boobjob, Character Study, F/F, First chapter is story, Horny Teenagers, Idiots in Love, Large Breasts, Love Your Body Writing Contest, One Week Later, Passion, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Sequel, Shameful lust, Shameless Smut, Shower Sex, Two-sided Fear of Rejection, brief futanari (no penetration), changing relationship, to 'I'm Sorry I Made You My Girlfriend'
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:20:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28578897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOneAndOnly1993/pseuds/TheOneAndOnly1993
Summary: It’s the gentle personality that cushions and absorbs the abrasiveness of Rena’s—embracing fully, accepting all of her.It’s the way she laughs at Rena, and with her, too—the kind that says, “I love that I know you, I really, really do.”It’s the feeling Rena gets when she’s around Kaede—that which wraps around her hand tight (sometimes) and deep within her heart always.It’s the… part of her Rena can’t look away from—in the same vein as Kaede does her breasts, but weirder, for it is an abnormal thing to lust for.The part of her she knows Rena likes, that Rena knows she’s sensitive about; the part of her she is most nakedly self-conscious about; the part of her that’s warm to the touch and soft like the rest of her and that Rena cannot look away from no matter how much she tries.Kaede’s softness, inside and out, is something Rena has spent her entire life crying for. And now that this is realized, Rena does everything she possibly can not to overuse and objectify this precious, irreplaceable comfort.It’s a good thing Kaede knows her so well, then.
Relationships: Akino Kaede/Minami Rena
Series: Love in Kamihama [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1740484
Kudos: 7





	Softness

**Author's Note:**

> As the tags say, this takes place one week after 'I'm Sorry I Made You My Girlfriend,' whereupon Rena and Kaede are unsure how to proceed with their developing relationship and their first time behind them, as well as the promises they made to one another that night. As the description implies, this will be more of growth story for both of them as Rena and Kaede are driven to share their complex feelings for one another, both in terms of emotion and lust.

It impeded their route to the arcade—a writhe within that settled like food poisoning. 

“Eh? My Kaedey Sense is tingling.” The announcement came as quiet as always, and only occurred to Rena as the nausea pulled her to an alleyway riddled with trash. 

_ ‘Kaedey Sense?’ The hell?  _ “Annoying” was a more befitting nickname. 

But it was cuter; Kaede’s, that is. Her smile turned away as Rena looked over. That liar. She didn’t need to fake being brave; it was pointless, it was insulting. Rena could protect Kaede just fine anyway. The Witch wouldn’t get to lay one stinking finger on her girlfriend. 

“Does ‘Kaedey Sense’ warn your dopey ass of incoming attacks?” 

She winced halfway, the reference to her reference hitting with a smile. “No,” she confessed. “But it’s not the pain  _ I’d  _ feel that scares me.” 

Rena’s heart practically stopped:  _ ‘She cares about me,’  _ it realized. Again. For the bajillionth time. 

She crossed her arms in self-defense. “Worry about yourself.”  _ Please, for the love of God.  _ “If your brain’s on anything but the fight, then you’re guaranteed to muck it up.” 

“Then how come  _ you  _ always fight perfectly?” 

She fucking  _ didn’t _ —wait, ‘then?’ “What’s that supposed to mean?!” 

Kaede stuck her tongue out. “You already know.” As Rena’s mouth staggered like that of a suffocating fish, Kaede stressed,  _ “You already know.”  _ Like she already knew that Rena was trying to parcel out the likelihood of what she knew that Rena knew she knew. 

It couldn’t have been the thing about her belly. 

Fuck no. Rena didn’t even  _ care  _ about that in a life or death struggle. It wasn’t when she was fighting, so that’s not what Kaede could have meant. She never even noticed Rena’s literal navel-gazing anyhow. Irrelevant. She wasn’t talking about that. 

Therefore, only everything else. At the very least. 

“Just worry about yourself, dummy.” Rena spun for the dark alleyway, where the ‘annoyance’ festering in her soul doubled with the familiar squickiness of guilt. “Maybe if you actually started doing that, I wouldn’t have my focus split to cover for your ass. And if you did that, then you wouldn’t have to get all depressed and shit thinking I got hurt because I wasn’t following my own damn advice.” As usual. 

“R-Rena—” 

_ “Just…” _ Kaede’s pain, the hurt lacing her words borne of Rena’s own—it didn’t have to be there. “Just don’t go for the Witch.” They rounded a bend, meeting a dumpster crowned in wobbly, melty brick. Rena’s soul gem filled her palm. “Don’t do anything scary or crazy for my sake. Just keep the Familiars off my back while I kill the Witch in one go.” 

“So,” Kaede drawled, a flash behind Rena illuminating the alley in all its grimey glory, “like always, then?” 

Kaede was back to teasing; Rena’s words hadn’t seriously hurt her. “I  _ will  _ shit-stomp this stupid Witch.” And softness tapped wetly on Rena’s cheek, cracking beside her ear. “Gah!” 

Kaede pulled back, as red as her hair and bright as her smile, staff poised behind her, belly thrust forth. Fuck. 

The dumpster was as ugly as it was easier to bear. “Why’d you do that?” Rena snapped, for she’d done nothing worth a kiss. 

Kaede mumbled, “‘Cause I love you.” 

A week. 

It’d been a week since they gave one another’s virginities. 

Since Kaede first uttered those words in the protective bubble of her blanket, and Rena somehow managed to reply in kind. 

The next morning greeted Rena with a Kaede so naked, yet so normal, that she didn’t realize herself in the exact same state until this very moment. 

A week later—normal, that is. Not naked, obviously. 

It’d been a week since then. A week since they had made love and voiced it, expressed it emotionally and physically. 

A week since the single most terrifying night of Rena’s life. 

“Why’d you do that?” She could only repeat herself like a parrot who was hard of hearing. “What’s different from usual here?” It wasn’t even their first Witch fight since that day.

“I just…” So weak were Kaede’s words that Rena wanted to comfort her more powerfully than herself. But she found Kaede smiling; still posed like a sexy-cute druidess cosplay, all blushes and smiles at Rena’s still-black thigh highs. “I just wanted… to let Rena know that… that I still love her, even if she can’t, um, poop-stomp this Witch. That even if I end up getting hurt, even when it’ll definitely be Kaede’s fault and not Rena’s… I’ll still feel really happy that Rena loves me so.” 

And Kaede met Rena’s eyes with that smile, as softly as her words, as the personality which swaddled her soul tight. 

This—all that—wasn’t as sudden as the kiss, or Kaede’s little gestures of caring. Well, it  _ was _ , but it was something deeper, too: passionate, thought out, proof of the feelings she expressed every day just by staying by Minami Rena’s side. 

Nothing— _ nothing— _ in Rena’s arsenal of arsey comebacks would ever be able to return Kaede’s feelings. Not in the way they deserved to be. 

“I’ll… hold you to that. Rena’ll never forgive you if your promise turns out to be hot air.” 

_ ‘I love you, too.’  _

_ ‘I love you, too.’  _

_ Why couldn’t I’ve just said it back—?!  _

A giggle cut through Rena’s fog of loathing, Kaede’s grin a light that dispelled it altogether. 

“Then I have nothing to worry about!” she said. 

Always. 

Always, always,  _ always.  _

Kaede  _ always  _ managed to take Rena’s nastiness in good grace. It was almost masochistic, it had to be. Or maybe it was love.  _ If I said it back,  _ she wondered, breathing in,  _ would Kaede understand how much she means to me?  _

_ Would she feel let down that I couldn’t express it as sappily?  _

_ Would it be cringey to attempt to match her?  _

_ Would it—?  _

Something cool and rough closed around Rena’s fist, squeezing her soul gem with a feeling deep within—even though only Kyubey had such ability. Kaede brought it to her other gloved hand, clasping Rena’s stranglehold as if in prayer. 

Kaede even christened it with a kiss, a featherlight suckle upon her middle knuckle that felt humiliatingly sweet. “I told you, on that night we shared last week,” Kaede uttered with such fearlessness, “that you  _ never  _ have to force yourself to respond to my feelings.” 

_ ‘Because I know how you feel now,’  _ beamed her rising smile. A sunrise-smile. 

That was stupid. 

Kaede was stupid. She was incredible. Rena loved her. “You got a freakishly high tolerance for nonsense.” 

“A perfect match for your worryingly low tolerance for compliments. Wouldn’t you say, Rena-chan?” 

No. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t. It was cowardly, it was true; but Kaede didn’t resent Rena’s cowardice, who didn’t mind Kaede’s in turn. Not at all, for she was dazzling in other ways. 

In ways that graced and toasted Rena inside and out until everything was sweating hot. 

In ways that allowed Rena’s hand to reach forth and clasp her by her chipmunk cheeks and yank them towards her lips. Kaede’s mouth cooled the throbbing upon them, tickled with a peep of surprise as well as inside Rena’s mouth and upon her tongue. 

Rena swallowed that naughty organ before it could bury itself in Kaede’s soft moan. And she tore herself away before the battle of self-control was lost. 

“Rena-chan…” Kaede breathed so softly, hitting Rena’s dampness with a gust of wind that demanded for warmth. 

Another kiss might send the message. Or a sappy ‘I love you,’ with all the emotion Rena could muster. An earnest attempt to voice her feelings? Kaede would love that. 

Right? 

She’d probably laugh at the effort. 

Or at the very least tease her: tease Rena for acting like a fool.  _ This is all your fault, deciding to get all romantic  _ now  _ of all times! _

“Rena? Is something—?” 

She’d taken too long, now… but only because Kaede’s timing sucked! “So what about this alleyway of trash and spooge got your heart beating so fast?” 

Kaede’s eyes gaped before flinching away. “D-don’t be gross! How can you even _ tell? _ ” 

“You think I wanna give this place a close inspection to make sure?! Not the point! You always choose the worst moment to say things, dummy.” 

“And you  _ al-ways  _ always choose the absolute  _ worst  _ time to ruin a moment, Rena-chan!” 

“Just learn to read the atmosphere! Cuz your timing’s worse than Momoko’s, I swear.” 

Kaede’s gaze flattened. In a tone to match she uttered, “Oh. Okay. Rena-chan’s embarrassed and can’t think of what to say, so she’s dodging the issue by making it my fault.” 

It was so on the money that Rena spoiled any hope of redeeming herself: “You’re lucky my tolerance for bullshit rivals yours!” A lie as obvious as the one Kaede had just seen through—Rena’s threshold wasn’t nearly as godly as her girlfriend’s. 

Stepping back, Rena willed herself into lighter clothes that left the shoulders and biceps chillier than before. Kaede giggled “Yeah” in the second it took to do so. 

“C’mon.” Rena threw a glance to the distorted dumpster ahead. “I wanna get to the arcade before the New Year.” 

Kaede finally drew her staff from behind, blocking the sudden but slight shudder of her belly button from view. “R-right.” 

She was afraid of the fight to be sure. 

But she had to have noticed Rena’s glance. 

Maybe her smile was just a mask, then. 

___________________________________

**_Softness_ **

_ TheOneAndOnly1993 _

_ ___________________________________ _

Rena’s outbursts, more often than not—or, at least, more times than there were fingers on her hands—had landed her into trouble with the teachers over the years. That “trouble” manifested as (at least) ten sunset-washed classrooms, a ton of cleaning supplies, a severe lack of more-than-one-single-asshole that was capable of finishing before dinnertime, and—most relevantly at the moment—the noxious atmosphere of cleaning fluids. 

A distinct smell, strong enough to batter Rena’s brain to mush by the time she was done. It clung like a perfume, and was the first thing her brothers noticed and teased her for when such a day was over.

Rena never thought back on these days, though. Even before she met Momoko and Kaede, they were as much a part of her as solitude. Today was, in fact, the first time in eons that her heart so much as clenched with the thought of those quiet, lonely afternoons. 

For today’s flavor of Witch resided in a Labyrinth tagged wall-to-wall with fluffy soap clouds, oozing detergent like blood without oxygen. Rubber duckies guarded it, bouncing about on grotesquely muscled legs, trying and failing to find a way around Kaede’s endless wall of wriggling vines. Yet the Witch herself was some mechanical nightmare stranded on a tower—a tower without windows, but hooks, each displaying a bottle of fluid, or a mop, or a wet floor sign, or some other thing Rena had grown familiar with across the years. She was bound in rope patterned like a yardstick, the only discernible feature amidst the mountain of gears, wires, and pistons were a pair of eyes and mouse-like ears. Crimson glared like lens flares from the peak with every horrible scream, every howl that warbled from the two cyclonic meat-grinders Rena had initially mistaken for ears. 

But it was not this setting which reminded Rena of the days before Momoko and Kaede, but the smell—the smell familiar and once-commonplace like an old acquaintance. But this Labyrinth did not smell sharply of cleaning fluids; it did not punch Rena’s brain to mush as though scrubbing all her dirty thoughts to oblivion by aroma alone. 

No. 

This Labyrinth—the soap pooled all around that shot her awkward stance out from under her, that slapped upon her back, that rendered Rena’s dress and thigh-highs and gloves cloying to her skin like syrup—reeked of literal fucking  _ dogshit. _

A smell that was noxious in a completely different way, that made her stomach turn as the cleaner odor had when those days first began. It battered Rena harder than the soundwaves the Witch had bellowed into her leaping strike, that buffeted her cry and got into her mouth and on her tongue as she careened back to Kaede’s plant-fortress. 

Rena ate shit face-first, practically lapping up the ocean-blue syrup and through the indentations shaped like the bottoms of Kaede’s boots. A yelp smashed upon Rena’s back, mushing a wheeze out of her as it cried, “Rena!” 

“It’s not my fault!” Rena shoved away from the floor, launching the weight off of her. Her palms split apart beneath her, yelping alongside Kaede’s beside her as Rena’s chest slapped unto the soap. “Fucking shit!” The Familiars ahead roundhoused, dropkicked, gnawed with toothy bills through Kaede’s vines, their every twitch inciting a broken squeak. 

Kaede was incredible for withstanding this clamor. 

Rena turned, barking, “I’m gonna try ag—!” 

Her kneeling girlfriend nearly spun away, embracing the staff against her cheek. “Your dress, Rena-chan!” 

Instantly the burn on Kaede’s face set Rena’s ablaze. “Who the fuck cares?!” She yanked her dignity back up anyway. It was too late, and not the time besides, to thank Kaede for being better than Rena anyhow: “Just—!” A sheen curved up and down Kaede’s stomach, encircled her navel in time with her panting. Rena thrashed away her dirty thoughts. “Just keep defending yourself! I’m killing the Witch  _ now _ .” 

Kaede returned to Rena, who whipped her gaze back upon the Witch. Rena prayed that herself was quicker, that Kaede didn’t realize what she’d ogled.  _ Focus. Forget about that, you moron.  _ Rena smelled the shit, inhaled deep; she tasted it on her tongue. The Witch gazed back. Squeaking gunfire rattled staggeringly behind her. A distinct, gleaming song spread among them, the groan of Kaede’s plants cracking apart the tile layer neath the soap. Rena crouched low, a chill racing up her back as her skirt peeled and flopped off of her rump. 

And then, her knees stiffened in a snap, and the smell battered her senses once again as air whipped by.  _ Win,  _ Rena thought, rearing back a new trident like a javelin.  _ Win.  _ The Witch’s ears groaned, twitching towards her descent.  _ Win so you don’t have to smell this anymore!  _

The Witch screamed. The air wobbled, a melting effect that loomed larger the louder and more electrifying it became. 

Rena had to smile.  _ You poor, stupid magical girl.  _ She pelted her weapon straight down, screaming at this disgusting smell and the afternoons spent befriending cleaning fluids because of a shitty personality, and Rena rocketed upwards. The force tugged at her pigtails, at her dress, freezing all over where she was dampest. The air wobbled by, down below, the shaft of another trident filling Rena’s hand. 

_ Die now.  _ Rena kicked one foot out behind her, flying to the Witch as its ears turned upwards.  _ Don’t suffer anymore.  _ The truth of magical girls tore from her breast—a bestial sound cursing the fact that Kaede and she would have never gotten together had the Magius lacked ambition and cruelty. It was horrible. Rena was horrible. Kyubey was horrible and the Magius were horrible. 

Rena’s throat burned, worse than the intensity through which the world glared red, mightier than the stranglehold on her trident overhead. The force of a truck blasted up Rena’s arms as all three prongs screeched neck-deep into crimson, shattering the light into naught but the twisted metal the Witch was made of. 

It swayed back, screaming, the most movement it’d displayed yet. Rena hugged her shaft for dear life, only to find herself embracing the weapon upon her own two feet: the Witch wasn’t recovering. 

Rena yanked her polearm, the trident bursting free in a glassy drizzle with the bark of splitting metal. Rena screamed, stabbing this shitty-smelling Witch in the eye socket. She tore it free, shitty Rena Minami, who couldn’t tell Kaede how much she loved her if she tried—a notion that she punched with again, her single gouge now a serrated open wound. 

Another yank, another stab—Rena was shitty. She was afraid of Kaede— _ stab,  _ went the trident—afraid of judgement that only existed in her own twisted mind.  _ Stab!  _ And afraid that the weird parts of her attraction would be anything less than flattering.  _ STAB!  _ Which they most certainly would be— _ STAB, STAB— _ because Rena was too afraid of losing Kaede— _ STAB— _ to explain why she’s attractive— _ STAB— _ so at best— _ STAB— _ Kaede— _ STAB— _ only saw a Rena _ —STAB— _ who ogled her bare midsection without a word. 

_ “FUCKING DIE ALREADY!”  _

The trident punched itself halfway deep. 

_ Just stop being weird.  _

Rena twisted with all her might, feeling and hearing the tear of metal deep below. 

_ Stop objectifying something Kaede can’t help—her uniform.  _

She gnarled the Witch’s innards counterclockwise. 

_ Stop being so afraid of every little thing.  _

She tore her weapon free, poised it overhead. 

_ Just stop— _ Rena slammed her fork with everything boiling inside her— _ stop being the one I hate most.  _

She braced herself for another harsh recoil the instant before impaling the Witch once more. And in that instant, Rena was unprepared for her footing to go vertical, to vanish, for the farmland smell to billow up and around her back. So sudden it was that it was frightening, and irritating, enough to make Rena scream for half a heartbeat before something hard smashed unto her back. The world flashed white and Rena gasped, choked, unable to even thrash against the pain because her back had broken. 

Her back was broken. 

Pain tendrils bled from her spine, spreading in all directions. Rena could only howl to the heavens and cry hard. Hard enough to overpower the Witch’s scream in her ears, to blur the teal sky above worse than the soundwaves blasting from its ears did. 

A new sound tore across the Labyrinth, louder than the Witch, more painful than Rena’s back—a scream. Kaede’s. Kaede screamed. 

Rena found herself on all fours. Her back wasn’t actually broken, a part of her realized; the rest reported that she’d been melodramatic, that that was what really hurt Kaede. 

Rena had hurt Kaede. 

Kaede, half a stadium away, writhed on the ground with her hands upon her ears, squealing. Crying. Curling away from the surrounding Familiars that flanked from all sides, throwing feet into whatever was in front of them with their perfectly chorded legs. 

“No…” Rena rose, placed one foot before her and tore it back—only to slip and faceplant. “Fuck!” The screaming harshened, loudened. They might be breaking bones, rupturing organs. “Kaede!” Rena cried. The Familiars continued to assault her, and the mewling at the center of their gathering broke as it loudened. 

_ So much for worrying about yourself,  _ sneered Rena’s voice, layered in another deeper and one higher-pitched.  _ If Minami Rena channeled her self-pity into something more adept,  _ it continued, a mirror falling before her eyes, displaying a thin smile cutting through a pigtailed shadow,  _ then perhaps you could’ve prevented this outcome, and won more decisively.  _

Attached to that mirror was a mop of blue hair, done up in ribbons—a sad attempt to look cute and friendly. 

Rena really, truly hated herself. Yet a conflicting emotion bubbled as her gloves browned, stretched over her fingertips; as her trident out of reach vanished and returned in-hand, made of wood; as her skirt hugged every square-inch of her rump, and her bare stomach made out with the sticky, slick soap beneath her. Her breasts, too, she realized with a tingle throughout—so much lesser, easier to lay upon, as well as the very crown of her crotch, the centimeter above her slit. It was all bare as a newborn’s, and a sick part of Rena was incredibly aroused, a sicker part largely uncaring that she felt so. 

A conflicting emotion bubbled bright, all the way up Rena’s throat and past her lips as a giggle. 

Rena really, truly hated herself—more so now than she ever had before. Ever. Never had she realized she could hate someone, herself especially, more than she did now. She was mean and nasty and disgusting, demeaning and cowardly and perverted. She always saw the looks of lust Rena sent her way, and Rena had the gall to pretend that Kaede never noticed. 

Even though they shared everything that night, Rena was still distrusting of Kaede. 

What a pitiful girlfriend Kaede was stuck with. 

Kaede really, truly hated Rena. 

_________________________________________

_ The master of this emotion wields every last bit of its power for her own sake. _

_ This Doppel multiplies its master’s transformation powers many times over. This allows her to temporarily change into not just another person,  _ **_but that person’s ideal form_ ** _ , more realistic than the real thing. _

_ However, if she makes frequent use of this too-perfect transformation, she may eventually lose sight of her original self. _

_ Also, since this Doppel changes its master into her ideal image of a given person,  _ **_she may sometimes appear quite different from the original person in question_ ** _. _

_________________________________________

It ached. 

Everything ached. 

One minute, Kaede was begging for it to stop, for Rena to come to her rescue like always. A gang of oversized bath toys surrounded her, kicking bruises into Kaede’s stomach, legs, chest and arms. It was so bad but Kaede could feel herself growing heavy within; that she was reaching critical mass for Zola’s emergence. For that, to save Rena from whatever pain she was last heard crying from, was more than enough for Kaede to withstanding the beating of a lifetime. 

A lifetime she was beaten within an inch of—an inch slowly reclaimed the moment the expressionless ducks had vanished. Their disappearance followed a glimpse Kaede caught of vines impaling the robotic Witch from a dozen angles, like a magician’s magic trick with as many swords. 

Clearly, Rena had reached her doppel point first. If not for that, then the victorious snarl of Kaede’s own voice in the distance made it painfully obvious:  _ “You weak piece of shit, Rena-chan! You pervert! You  _ knew  _ that my magic would’ve been stronger against this Witch, but you were too proud to admit that after making a big scene in the alley!  _ All  _ because you  _ never  _ trust me with anything!”  _

Oh, boy. 

Dammit. 

Kaede let herself lay in the soap that smelled of compost.  _ I should’ve doppeled first.  _ But that was impossible, for Rena had felt worse leading up to this moment, for sure.  _ If I did,  _ Kaede thought,  _ then at least I could pretend the aftereffects didn’t make me hate myself and burden Rena.  _

Because Rena will most certainly deny anything said or felt aloud for Kaede’s sake. And that was harder to deal with than simply pretending such things didn’t exist outside of Kaede’s own head. 

The sky above twisted, warped, and faded into a strip of burnt orange and purple clouds. The aches faded to a dull tingle all over, but Kaede remained where she lay, unable to move from the rawer ache still pinning her. Heavier than the soap and stickiness coating her still. 

“Kaede!” ‘Kaede’ cried, scampering over to scoop her up in her arms. “Kaede! Kaede…” 

The enormity of Rena’s love, however hard it was to express sometimes, made Kaede’s heart swell and her body heat up, up to her smile-propped cheeks. Everything inside was thrown around Rena’s transformed coat, squeezing her tight. 

“I’m okay,” Kaede managed firmly. “You saved me, Rena. Thank you for being my hero.” That netted Kaede a tighter hug. A soft, sticky smoothness squished against her belly, stimulating some of the worst bruises that still lingered. But it was soft, and warm; a hug upon her belly that Rena had to have felt just as pleasantly, who for whatever reason liked this part of Kaede and found it attractive. 

That alone was enough to make her squeeze back, to exhale raggedly, to push her belly into Rena’s warmth, her smoothness. Kaede smiled as Rena’s breath hitched—she totally noticed. They battled for dominance, as if to see who breathed harder. A heat rolled in Kaede’s gut the messier their stomachs kissed until, disappointingly, Rena gently pushed Kaede’s shoulders away with a grunt. 

Maybe Rena didn’t appreciate that, thought it was weird. 

But her eyes couldn’t meet Kaede’s, even as she said, “M’glad you’re okay.” She finally sounded like how Kaede normally would. 

Appearance-wise, however… 

“Fuyuu,” Kaede breathed, taking in the sheer mile’s worth of stomach Rena’s perception of her had manifested. Instead of a square, she was baring a fleshy rectangle—one that started from a shorter top that teased subtle underboob, all the way down and over Kaede’s slight swell, ending at a nonexistent button-zipper that exposed enough flesh to show off her sex lines without so much as a strand of pubic hair, nor suggestion of a slit. 

Kaede’s insides clenched hard. Even though it was herself, even though it was the result of Rena’s unusual kink, even though it was linked to some serious esteem issues Rena otherwise kept a lid on… Kaede’s core squeezed within itself;  _ this  _ was a monument to how sexy she was in Rena’s eyes. 

Those eyes that twitched away the instant Kaede tried meeting them, that flashed from amber to blue a heartbeat later. The rest of her followed, returning her beloved Minami Rena in her true form—outside and most certainly within. 

_ I’m a little upset you want me to be so hostile towards you.  _ They had both discussed the parts of themselves their doppels brought out. Discussed them, unable to change these deep-seated issues, at least for now, but at least having the conversation open and ready for whenever it was aroused. 

But Kaede couldn’t bring herself to make such a painfully lighthearted observation. That was a mess of a fight, and both were to blame for it for more than one reason. They were aching now, inside and out, and the way Kaede’s school clothes stuck to her the instant she changed back was already driving her crazy. A pointless fight may very well arise, and this alley was not the place for it.

“I don’t think we should go to the arcade.” Kaede fell back, knees squeezed together as her hands propped herself. “You smell like poop, Rena-chan.” 

Though she prepared herself for a fight, faith in Rena proved true as her reactive gawking snapped shut upon taking in Kaede’s smirk. She twisted aside, arms wrapped around her chest too harshly to be sincere.

“Yeah, well, you smell no different from normal. So it’s no wonder you’ve not noticed.” 

Kaede forced her brows to furrow, submerging in the shallow apprehension Rena’s jab incited. “I  _ never  _ smell this bad after gardening!” 

“Only if you use Don-chan’s dogshit for compost.” 

“Well, then, I guess I better get home and shower! Don’t wanna offend Rena’s sensitive nose more than necessary, after all.” Rena winced away, stupefied then enraged. Kaede smirked quicker than she could fully inhale, knocking the wind out of Rena and forcing her hardness out of the atmosphere, rendering her an embarrassed red jelly. “I do feel gross, though,” Kaede continued. “Neither of us were on our A-game because of it.” 

Of course, it was no smell or sticky feeling that left Kaede rooted as far back as possible from the Witch she could have easily conquered. It was something stronger, and definitely far more shameful than any loving, lustful look Rena sent her way. 

For those at least healed Kaede, made her strong, however afraid Rena was that prevented expressing them. Her personal shame was what hurt Rena, both in terms of voicing her gratitude and the need for more. 

But today’s battle proved, if nothing else, that both wanted each other’s love; needed it more than they had expressed since gifting one another’s virginities one week ago. 

“You did fine.” Rena was still glaring aside, soaked so thoroughly that a baby-blue bra propped on her forearms ghosted through her school shirt. “I’m… sorry I wasn’t strong enough.”  _ ‘In body and soul,’  _ her mumbling implied. 

Kaede was too sore and sticky and smelly to “well actually” Rena at the moment. “Me, too,” she said, pushing herself up. Rena watched expectantly, that softly-irritated look still on her face regarding the hand Kaede stretched out to her. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, heart skipping a beat as Rena squeezed the help, rising as Kaede hoisted her to her feet. “I’m… gonna go home now, wash up.” 

The expected widening of Rena’s eyes almost made Kaede squeal; she really had no idea how clearly her love shone. As anticipated, Rena scoffed all cool-like, going back to crossing her arms as she cussed, “Idiot! You live all the way on the other side of the ward. You think I’m gonna let you go home in this sorry state, when my house is just a short walk away?” 

Kaede giggled into her hands, giddy all over. “Oh? We’re actually walking to your place?” She didn’t have the courage to suggest a passionate shower session together, fearing repulsion of the hormones going berserk at thoughts of Rena’s naked body. 

“Obviously not!” Rena sputtered, flashing back into her magical girl uniform. A sheen crested the beginning swells of her otherwise clothed bosom. “I wouldn’t be caught dead reeking like ass in public! Unlike  _ you _ .” 

Kaede smiled, rolled her eyes as she followed suit—definitely more invested in the alleyway they were ready to scale than the feeling of Rena’s warm stare on her stomach. 

“Last one to your place—!” Kaede began, only to be tugged by the hat hanging off her back. 

“Oi! Hold your horses, dummy! Don’t go thinking I don’t know you.” Before she could question what Rena meant, Kaede heard the clink of glass-on-glass. It was a gentle sound that somehow managed to make her heart feel as light as it had before the fight. “I don’t want your stupid doppel gassing my house,” Rena said as she came up beside her. She tossed the empty grief seed aside, not looking as it thundered against the dumpster. 

“That’s  _ littering _ .” 

“I don’t  _ care _ .” Rena launched herself, bouncing to and fro between the walls as though she’d practiced all her life. With a sigh, Kaede followed—unable to bring herself to care about the peculiar trash left behind in this skeevy alley anyway

___________________________________________


End file.
